Excavating-machine



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JL DOUGINE.

Excavating-Machine;

No. 225,001. Patented Mar. 2, 1880.

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"J. T. DOUGINIB.

E'xc av-atin g Machinei No. 225,001; Patented Mar. 2, 1880 D V V w- $76E 4x 5 J I I b l llllllllllllllllllllllllIH N.PHER&Fl-IOTq-LITHOQRAPHER, WASHINEZTON, 6

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

JAMES T. 'DQUGINE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

EXCAVATTNG-MACH l NE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 225,001, dated March 2,1880.

Application filed August 18, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES T. DOUGINE, of the city and county of SanFrancisco, in the State of California, have-invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Excavating-Machines; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing bad to the accompanying drawings. I

My invention has reference to certain improvements in that class ofdigging and excavating machines in which the endless belt or chain thatcarries the digging and elevating scoops or buckets is mounted in aswiveling frame, like a boom, so it can be swung from side to side inorder to dig a ditch, canal, or excavation of the desired width.

It also relates to a novel arrangement for operatin g the car orcarriage on which. the digging and elevating mechanism is mounted, allas hereinafter described.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a sideelevation Fig. 2, a plan view; Fig. 3, a front elevation,and Fig. 4 aView of the under side of the platform of my improved digging-machine.

Let A represent the platform of a car or carriage on which theexcavating and elevating machinery is mounted. Upon the rearend of thisplatform I construct a frame, which consists of the two upright timbersB B, the upper ends of which are connected by a crossbeam, 0, as shown.

D is an upright swiveling frame, the lower end of which is supported bya vertical step or hearing which rests in a socket on the platform,while the upper end is supported by a vertical journal or trunnion, a,which is held in a box, 12, at the middle of the upper cross timber, O,of the frame. In this swiveling frame I mount the endless elevating-beltand the mechanism that drives it, so that when the frameswivels aroundthe mechanism will stance I have represented an upright engine,

F, which is supported on standards G G inside the swiveling frame. Thesestandards are secured to the lower cross-plate of the frame D, so thatthe standards and engine form a part of the swiveling frame-work.

A horizontal crank-shaft, f, is supported in the standards G G below theengine, and its crank is connected with the pitman of the engine. On theend of this shaft is a bevel-wheel, h, which engages with anotherbevel-wheel, 41, on an upright shaft, H, which steps in the lower plateof the frame 1) and extends up alongside the side plate of the frame.The upper end of this upright shaft is supported by a bracket whichprojects from the upright side of the frame, and it has a bevel-wheel,j, on its upper end, which engages with another bevel-wheel, K, on thepulley-shaft E. By this I arrangement the entire driving mechanism iscarried within the swiveling frame D, so that when the frame is turnedall the parts preserve their proper relative position.

J J are the side plates of the boom-frame, around which the endless beltL travels. The projecting ends of the shaft E pass through the upperends of these plates, as shown, or

these may be secured to the swiveling frame by eyebolts, so as to admitof a vertical moti on, and the plates are strongly connected t0-v getherat intervals by cross-bars. This frame is long enough to reach forwardto the required distance beyond the forward end of the platform A, andits forward end is supported by a frame, M, which travels on a circulartrack, N, on the forward end of the platform. A pulley, 0, ismountedbetween the forward ends of these plates J J, and the endlessbelt or chain L passes over this pulley at the lower end of the frameand over the pulley F at the upper end of the frame.

A winch or Windlass, P, is mounted on the platform A, around which themiddle of a rope, Q, is wound several times. The ends of this rope thenpass inopposite directions around a series of horizontally-mountedpulleys, r, on track N, and their ends are attached to the oppositesides of the traveling frame M, so that by rotating the Windlass ineither direction the frame is caused to move around the track and carrythe outer end of the endless belt,

endless belt L, are simple digging and elevating buckets, similar tothose ordinarly used for such purposes.

On each side of the belt, nearits upper end, and, if desired, near itslower end also, I mount an upright guide-roller, t, to keep the beltsteady and prevent it from getting off its pulleys. Over the lower endof the belt I also secure a shed or hood, B, which will prevent theearth from caving down upon the belt and moving buckets, as hereinafterdescribed.

A stationary hopper, T, is secured to a crossbarjust back of theupper-end of the elevator, so that the material which is carried up bythe buckets will be dumped into it as the buckets pass over the upperpulley. To the lower end of this hopper a swiveling spout, U, isattached, through which the material that is dumped into the hopper isconducted, and either delivered into carts or upon a secondary orindependent belt.

The forward wheels, V V, I place loosely upon the axle O and arrange theaxle to swivel about its middle, while the rear wheels, W W, are fixedto the rear axle, D, and this axle is stationary. The forward axle Iarrange vto swivel at its middle by either passing it through aking-bolt, or, which passes down through the middle beam of thecarriage-frame, or by passin g the king-bolt through the axle. Eachouter end of the axle I also support in a movable box, 1 which isattached to a circular plate or track on the under side of the sidetimbers of the carriage-frame by means of dovetail or equivalentconnections. I then attach one end of a rope, d, to the axle near eachend, and carry it forward over a pulley, c, in front of the axle, andthen lead it back to a vertical shaft, f, which passes down through theplatform, and wind its middle several times around the lower end of theshaft. On the upper end of this shaft is a handwheel, g, by means ofwhich the shaft can be rotated to wind up the rope in either directionand let it off correspondingly in the opposite direction.

By this means I can swing the front axle to an angle in eitherdirection, and thus convert the front wheels into steering-wheels.

To drive the carriage forward while the endlesschain digger andelevatoris in operation, I secure a toothed wheel, 71/, to the rear axleand mount a shaft, l, at an angle in line with it. On this shaft is aworm, m, which engages with the toothed wheel h, and on the upper end ofthe shaft is a hand-wheel, n, by means of which the shaft is rotated.This enables me to move the carriage slowly forward and backward by handas it becomes neces sary. The whole operating mechanism is Within easyreach of the engineer, so that one man can run the entire machine.

At the middle of the rear end of the machine I secure a journal orspindle, 19, so that it will project toward the rear, and when it isdesired to turn the machine bodily I raise the rear end and place alarge wheel, q, on this journal, so that it will carry the rear wheels,W W, clear of the ground. The wheel q will then stand at a right angleto the forward wheels, V V, so that the machine can be turned aroundwithin its length to face in any desired direction. This supplementalwheel, when not in use, I hang upon a supplemental journal, d, on theside of themachine, so that it will always be at hand when required, asseen in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

In operating this machine the engine will drive the digging andelevating belt. I shall usually place the machine so that it will travelon the bottom of the excavation. The-buckets on the endless belt willthen dig and take up the material and make an under-cutin the face ofthe cut, so that the material will be caved down upon the frame. Thehood B will prevent the earth from falling upon the belt andupward-moving buckets; but the buckets will take up and remove the looseearth thus caved down with great facility. When it is necessary to swingthe forward end of the boom-frame around to get at the earth and widenthe cut, the engineer has only to turn the hand-wheel g and wind up therope on that side. If he wishes to move forward, he rotates thehandwheel n and rotates the shaft 1. This causes the worm-gear to rotatethe rear axle and move the machine forward. In fact, this arrangementgives the en gineer complete control over the entire machine.

I secure a great advantage in mounting the boom and driving -mechanismin a single swivelframe, as it enables me to secure greater strength andless liability of deranging the mechanism.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-- 1. The combination, in an excavatingma chine,with the excavating carrier-frame J, with its upper end hung in aswiveled frame, D, of the adj usting-frame M, semicircular track N,having a correspondingly-disposed series of pulleys, r r, cords Q, andWindlass P, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with the excavating mechanism, its swiveling frameand carriage, of the swiveled axle O, supporting the forward end of theframe or platform thereof, and with its boxes sliding in curved tracksaffixed to said frame or platform, the rope or chain d, with its endsconnected to the aforesaid axle and passing over pulleys-c e, and at itscenter around a pulley, a shaft, f, and hand-wheel g, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

JAMES T. DOUGINE.

